1386First mention of a town hall

It is documented that as early as 1231 there was a “Schultheiß” (a representative of the Landgrave) in Alsfeld. A charter from 1341 already speaks of a mayor, jurors, and council. With Conze Schaufuze in 1374, the name of a mayor is recorded for the first time. And the earliest mention of a “raithus” (town hall) is found in an account book from 1386/87. In 1386, masonry work on the Leonhardsturm and the town hall is listed there. For the tower, the date is considered the time of its construction; for the town hall, it is not certain whether it was newly built or already being repaired in that year. In any case, later sources also confirm the existence of a town hall; for example, on July 12, 1487, where it says: “so wir jares uff unser raithus vallen han.”

This older town hall was destroyed by fire in 1510 or 1511. Archaeological excavations carried out in 2021 during the renovation of the marketplace in the area between the marketplace and the church square surprisingly revealed foundation wall remains of an older building. According to a document from 1439 in the council book, this building could have stood from the 14th century until the fire at the beginning of the 16th century exactly where the construction of the new, present-day town hall began in 1512. (NH)